In fairness gays shouldn't allowed to marry, as it's a religious institution that is pretty clear what it does and doesn't allow. But that's a different topic all together.

Sorry but No. You couldn't be more wrong. Long before religion came to play, marriage was used to help determine distribution of wealth among families of the deceased and for diplomatic purposes among families and foreign nations. All of this was prevalent in ancient societies far before ANY religion played a role in what YOU perceive as marriage. Open your history book pal.

I don't know what culture your referring to... To say these accidental shootings are a new trend is uneducated at best.

The culture of just because we have an amendment guaranteeing we can have guns, means that we can do just about whatever we like with them. This is primairily a problem with the utterly stupid. Such as leaving your saftey off, or leaving it within reach of a kid, or firing it just for the hell of it in a residential area, or firing it into the air FORGETTING THAT LAW OF GRAVITY APPLY TO EVERYTHING.

Reasonable, respectful gun owners know how to properly secure their gun, as well as how to respectfuly operate one. My issue is with the cowboy mentality.

Well he probably will have some penalty. But to blame a culture, or the weapon is simply misguided

Culture can be blamed but not in this case. Again saying Guns are not dangerous and harmless is also misguided. The guy shouldn't have a gun now. I get he's a vet and I respect him for that. It doesn't mean he can do whatever he pleases. I know what it's like to have a war vet. My grandpa was one and he's dead but he wouldn't hurt a fly.

Sorry but No. You couldn't be more wrong. Long before religion came to play, marriage was used to help determine distribution of wealth among families of the deceased and for diplomatic purposes among families and foreign nations. as well. of which came far before ANY religion played a role in what YOU perceive as marriage. Open your history book pal.

Gays still marry, just not in a church. A religious sect should have the right to decline to acknowledge such a union. Freedom of religion and whatnot.

The culture of just because we have an amendment guaranteeing we can have guns, means that we can do just about whatever we like with them. This is primairily a problem with the utterly stupid. Such as leaving your saftey off, or leaving it within reach of a kid, or firing it just for the hell of it in a residential area, or firing it into the air FORGETTING THAT LAW OF GRAVITY APPLY TO EVERYTHING.

Reasonable, respectful gun owners know how to properly secure their gun, as well as how to respectfuly operate one. My issue is with the cowboy mentality.

Silly story...
The law of gravity does apply to bullets, but so does the law of wind resistances. When I go duck hunting, we sometimes shoot straight into the air. After about 45-60 seconds the bbs will rain down on us. They don't hurt, just bounce off harmlessly.

too bad this isn't what happened, oh how pointless hypotheticals can be.

You say this, but I see hypotheticals all over the place. "What if guns were illegal?" "What if he only had a baseball bat?" "What if they WERE there to rob him?"

I don't pretend to know the whole story based off that small article. Nobody should. I will say that if somebody fires a gun into the air and tells me to get the hell out of there, my next step would certainly not be to roll down the window. There are a couple things about the story I don't understand, which makes me think that isn't the whole story. On the other side of the fence, if there were 4 teenage gangbangers there to rob a 70 year old man, he needs a firearm to defend himself. He wouldn't be able to do it with a baseball bat.

Also, as a rule, we don't send mentally disabled people to prison in this country. You can't call him "A crazy loon!" and then say "I hope he rots in jail." If he is in fact of impaired mental capacity, (A) he shouldn't have had a gun (B) he shouldn't be sent to prison.

There probably should be a subforum for gun control in America. (since everybody living outside the US cares so much about it)

Culture can be blamed but not in this case. Again saying Guns are not dangerous and harmless is also misguided. The guy shouldn't have a gun now. I get he's a vet and I respect him for that. It doesn't mean he can do whatever he pleases. I know what it's like to have a war vet. My grandpa was one and he's dead but he wouldn't hurt a fly.

Guns are no more dangerous than your car, or a gas can in your garage, or a candle lit in your room. People are simply afraid of what they don't understand.

---------- Post added 2013-01-30 at 05:56 AM ----------

Originally Posted by Bryntrollian

I don't know why they are still allowing us to harm ourselves with these primitive tools of death and destruction. They should just outlaw firearms already.

Silly story...
The law of gravity does apply to bullets, but so does the law of wind resistances. When I go duck hunting, we sometimes shoot straight into the air. After about 45-60 seconds the bbs will rain down on us. They don't hurt, just bounce off harmlessly.

That's because you didn't shoot them in a ballistic trajectory. Also, those BBs probably have a very low terminal velocity.

Originally Posted by Uschlol

Guns are no more dangerous than your car, or a gas can in your garage, or a candle lit in your room. People are simply afraid of what they don't understand.

Go read "the giver"

If people are afraid of what they don't understand, you should be afraid of guns, gas cans, candles and cars.

Also, telling people to go read fictional works doesn't support your argument, it just makes you look like you don't have anything to really support it other than fictional works.

Silly story...
The law of gravity does apply to bullets, but so does the law of wind resistances. When I go duck hunting, we sometimes shoot straight into the air. After about 45-60 seconds the bbs will rain down on us. They don't hurt, just bounce off harmlessly.

True, but i also just read a story of a hunter who shot at a boar, the bullet then richoched off of one of its bones, flew a mile and struck someone in a moving car dead. While that was INCREDIBLY unlucky and not the hunters fault at all, it shows bullets can still kill even if they have to travel far.

Short version: Paranoia+guns= disaster. What is it with people justifying shooting others just for "being on their property" when they're not even breaking in or anything (even accidentally like in this case)? How is that "defending yourself"?